Clear Misfortunes
by Sai-Abyss
Summary: Aka Jinx, once a Yaoi Addict shut-in, worked at her family's bakery as a delivery girl, thus her befriending her 'shipped' couple Aoba and Koujaku, and the 'sweetheart' spazz Clear. Though she kept the secret of her doing Rhyme from her friends, her true past haunts her dreams nightly. When she and her friends are in real danger, will she put her secrets aside or hide in the dark?
1. Battle One

_Yoohoo~~ And yes. I got sucked into the DRAMAtical Murder Fandom. Got the game, even Re:Connect, and up-to-date with the anime series. And I just loooooooooove Clear. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy and once this fandom calms down, I'll continue more of Doppelganger Duo. Promise~~_

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: ...*sighs* I own nothing. NOTHING! ...but this Clear Body Pillow.<strong>

**Battle One**

**Technical Zone: Low**

**Coil News Flash**

**Midorijima**- _A new Rhyme player is taking everyone by storm. Stealing the hearts of men and charming the young aspiring Rhyme players. In the public eye, Rhyme player 'Rosemary' and her Allmate 'Kurai' are well-known and called to be 'The Savior of Rhyme playing'. A few witnesses saw Rosemary attending an unfair Drive-By match, two against one, and join forces with the one on their own. Her and the lone player were victor due to Rosemary's attacks and skills._

_Rosemary is a prized player of Rhyme, for she can attack other Allmates while playing, also defending and taking attacks directed at her Allmate and continuing the game "without a care in the world." _

"_Allmates are people too", she had told one of players she battled along with before disappearing from the scene._

_A true hero of stopping unfair Rhyme battles and the respect given to her trusty Allmate. Rosemary and Kurai are extremely rare to find, for they do not belong to a team. Rumor has it that Rosemary is the same as Usui to help make the game fair and fun, but no information has been shared. Even the players that fought along with Rosemary refused identify her appearance, adding on the mystery._

Aka closed of the Coil News and squealed like a school girl as she lies back on her bed, accidently startling her cat Allmate that was on sleep mode behind her. Akaku Jinx rolled around on her bed, trying to calm down her excitement (and breathing) before her Allmate, extremely curious on what had made his owner go mad, pounce onto her chest and stared into her leaf-green eyes.

"Aka" it asked in a British accent, "what's the matter? Are you going through another sugar rush again?"

Aka grabbed her Allmate and held him high above her head. "I just read the Coil News Flash, Ai", she said. "They did an article of 'Rosemary and Kurai', of us!"

"And you're excited about this because…?"

Aka huffed and sat the cat beside her. "They called us 'Heroes', Ai. Heroes!" She stood up and made a victory pose. "To protect Rhymers one and all. And Allmates, too!" She winked at him.

"Well, Rhymers protecting Allmates in battle is pretty unheard of."

"Well, Rhymers use their Allmates as fighting tools and not as people." She sat back down next to Ai and patted his head. "You're more than just an Allmate to me, Ai. You're my partner and my bestest-best friend." She then leans down and nuzzled him.

"So, what will you do when they find out that the Hero Rhymer Rosemary is just a young girl with a bad sugar habit", Ai asked, purring.

"Hey!" She sat up and glared at her friend. "It's not bad. It's not like I crash from my Sugar High anyway."

"Aka! Ai!" Called out her Uncle Ku. "Come on down! Business is bombing!"

"Yay!" Aka bounced to her feet. "It's baking time, Ai! Ready?"

"Yes." Ai leaped and landed on his master's shoulders as she left her room.

Aka lives with her Uncle Ku and Auntie Ra. They all live in the apartment right above their bakery store, Tamaki Bakery. Uncle Ku, a sturdy man with blonde hair, is a master of making fancy (and sometimes girly) cakes for parties and weddings. Auntie Ra, a nicely-aged woman with sakura-pink hair up in a bun, makes pies so good that it'll put Housewives to shame. Then there's Aka, a young girl with rose-red hair as wild and untamed as a lion's mane; she makes the sweets such as Bon-Bons, shortcakes, brownies, cookies and lollipops. All ingredients made out of scratch and she makes them taste wonderful.

Aka also deals with deliveries when she doesn't have to make sweets. Ai also comes along to guide her to unfamiliar places in town. But after she delivers the sweets and cakes to her customers, she then takes her time looking around for Drive-By Rhyme battles and joins in. Before looking for battles, she puts on her head mask. So when she appears, Rhymers will only see a small figure in a mask that have two bright glowing red eyes and two rows of teeth that curls up like a smile. Her hair would be pushed back behind her and Ai would be in her arms as she'd approach the Rhymers.

"Aka", said Uncle Ku, meeting his red-headed niece at the end of the stairs, "there's a delivery you gotta make. One of our customers was unable to pick it up this morning."

"No problem!" Aka saluted to her Uncle.

"Great!" He rubbed the young girl's head. "Boy, you sure do need a haircut. You look like a lion with big mane of yours."

"Maybe I wanted to revert back to my cat-like heritage", she said, laughing.

"Please don't", Ai said with a sigh. "I'm the only cat this place needs. Bad enough I have to deal with Aka here."

"Hey!" Aka snapped but she knew her friend was just kidding when he laughed.

"So where to" Ai asked.

"Junk Shop Heibon", Uncle Ku answered. "Mr. Haga was unable to come pick it up. He paid in advance. I already put the cake in your bag and some of your packaged cookies in case you wanna 'promote'." Busniess isn't bad. They get lots of customers wanting their treats, but Ku wanted his niece make some friends that weren't male. He believed that having an Allmate as her only friend was okay at the time when her parents died in a fire ten years ago, but the child is now twenty years old. But with her special cookies and lollipops, she's bond to make some more friends with them.

"Awesome! Thanks, Uncle Ku." She hugged the man and ran towards the table next to the door where her Honekoneko bag was, dodging some customers along the way.

"Junk Shop Heibon", Ai repeated as they left. "Isn't that were Aoba works at?"

"He sure does. Haven't seen him in a week." She clicked the heels of her black roller shoes to turn on her rollers. She wore a black silk tank top with a matching black skirt with a belt that had a rose on the buckle. Reaching into her skirt pockets, she pulled out her Bluetooth earbuds and placed them inside her ears. Messing with her Coil, she found her favorite song by Voltaire, Cannibal Buffet, and play.

"Hold on tight, Ai", she said.

Ai, who was around his owner's neck, sighs. "Good grief."

Aka then started skating along to her music towards her destination.

_**8888888888888**_

"Hello, this is Junk Shop Heibon", answered the Bluenette.

"…Hello", said a strangled voice.

"Yes?"

"Uh….I uh…" then the caller ended the call.

Aoba sighs and hung up the store's retro phone. "I swear, that's the tenth one today and it's not even noon yet."

"More weird callers, Aoba?" His Allmate, Ren, asked in his lap.

"Yeah", he answered, petting Ren's fluffy fur. "It's rather irritating. And it's mostly guys, too."

"You've yet to discuss this with Koujaku" Ren reminded. "He might do something about it."

Aoba laughed weakly. "Uh….I don't think violence is the key. I don't wanna scare away the customers. Eh heh heh…." It would cause some trouble if his boyfriend knew that other men were attracted to his voice when he answered the phone. No, Koujaku is known for his bad temper so he would try to hunt down every guy in town and threaten them with his sword. That would put Aoba in a pickle.

"No no. Koujaku shouldn't know about this yet", he convinced himself.

"Hm" was all Ren said before hearing the store bell ring.

Aoba straightens up. "Welcome", but then smiles at the person walking in.

"Super Sweets from Tamaki Bakery" sang the red-headed woman as she did the pose her Aunt and Uncle forced her to do when delivering. She was to turn to her right, bend done slightly and point her finger towards the sky. "Reach fooooor your sugar high!"

Aoba literally fell out of his chair, startling Ren, laughing like a maniac. Once a week, his boss Haga, would order a cake from Tamaki Bakery. They opened a few years back but started their delivery system two months ago. It was then that he met Akaku, singing the song and doing a strange pose against her will. It was the highlights of his week every time.

"You're an ass, Aoba" Aka huffed, reaching into her Honekoneko, pulled out the order and put it on the counter. "Every time it's like this. You should be use to this by now."

"I can't!" he said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "It's cute and hilarious."

"It's anything but cute", Ai said, leaping from Aka's shoulders to the ground where Ren was. "Good morning, Ren."

"Morning, Ai" the dog greeted.

"I haven't seen you in a while", Aoba said, picking himself up.

"It has been awhile. How are you and Koujaku? Have you guys done it yet? Was it good? Tell me! Teeeell me!" Aka was leaning over the counter towards her blue-haired friend.

Aoba backed away, slight blush tainted his cheeks. "Out of everyone, you had to be into gay people. What is that thing you're into? Owie?"

"Yaoi", she corrected, "and it's awesome and good for the soul."

He raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be into tattoos or boys or drinking?"

"I'm a social drinker."

He stared down the girl. "You don't get out much, do you?"

"I do!"

"Work doesn't count", he said, crossing his arms.

She wanted to tell him about Rhyme but she knew he wasn't into that so she said, "Well, it's better than doing drugs. Like, look at this new game I got!" Reaching into her Honekoneko, she pulled out her game console, a 3Ds she had gotten from the mainland, booted it up and showed her friend the title.

Aoba looked at the screen. "TACTical Murder?"

Aku nodded. "Yeah, it's super awesome!"

"It's yaoi, isn't it?"

"Duh! Look! Look at all of these men! The main character is Kaiba, and this is guy is his best friend Hiroku and this is Whisper, this is Hitch and this one is Blur."

Aoba, still not really interested at her game, stared at the guy named 'Blur'. "Uhh…Blur isn't human. He's a robot."

"He's a Cyborg", she corrected with a huff. "And he's a sweetheart. I don't care if he's not human. I would bang him in an instant!" She hugged her handheld console.

"R-right." Aoba wasn't the one to judge. Since Aka was his only female friend, he accepted her weirdness and her love for guy-on-guy relationships. She was also the one who accepted his relationship with Koujaku, next to his Grandmother, and keeps it a secret from everyone else. Mostly her saying that she 'shipped' them together before it even happen….whatever that meant.

"You know Koujaku is gonna be really upset that you haven't gotten a haircut", he said, changing the subject. "You look like a lion with that mane of yours."

Aka huffed again. "I'll cut it or something. I don't feel like fighting his fans."

"Tell me about it", he said as he laughed.

Aka's coil started to ring.

"It's a message from Uncle Ka", Ai announced, walking back to his owner.

"It might be another delivery" she said, slancing at the message on her coil before shutting it off. "Make sure Mr. Haga gets his treat."

Aoba nodded. "Oh! If you're not busy around three, let's go over to Dry Juice's turf and hang with Mizuki."

Aka blushed. "Mizuki? Jeez, I really don't know…." She met Mizuki through Aoba when they first started to hangout. Mizuki was a kind man who was into Rib. Dry Juice is the largest Rib team in the area. It was no doubt that Mizuki has the hots for her and she likes him as well….but her identity of her doing Rhyme is still a secret and it was no secret that Mizuki hated Rhyme and the people who does it.

'Maybe I don't need to do Rhyme today just in case', she thought to herself.

"Well?"

"Sure thing! Oh!" Putting her 3Ds back into her Honekoneko, she pulled out a package of cookies and tossed them at her friend. "That's for you. Share them with Granny, okay?"

"Right. See ya later!" He waved.

"Yeah. Let's go, Ai. Bye bye, Ren!"

_**8888888888888888**_

Twenty-seven deliveries later, Aka and Ai were done for the day. They returned back to Tamaki Bakery to pick up their last delivery, a birthday cake, to Black Needle, which is where she was going to be at anyway. She might as well head over to Junk Shop to get Aoba before making the delivery.

"When will you be back" Uncle Ku asked his niece.

"No clue", she replied. "I'm hanging with Aoba and Mizuki at Black Needle anyway…maybe sometime before 2am?"

"Will you be drinking?" he asked, raising his brushy eyebrow.

"I don't know, maybe." She peeked at the cake again before carefully putting it in a carryout container. "It's someone's birthday so maybe." She raised her gaze up to her glaring Uncle. "No worries, I'll have both Aoba and Koujaku walk me home in case I drink. I promise."

Uncle Ku looked over that the cat Allmate on his niece's shoulders.

"I'll notify you if she walks home alone" Ai answered.

"Good!" He petted the Allmate. "You're so responsible, Ai."

"Yeah yeah." She rolled her eyes. "I'm off. See ya later." She wanted to leave the bakery as soon as possible. She didn't want to be reminded what had happened to her back in her teen years.

Long story short, when she did have "friends" they weren't really her friends, they would pressure her to drink until she couldn't function and leave her in an alley. It scared her when she woke to being surrounded by dirty men with lust in their eyes. Ai ran off to get help when she tried to fight them off…she blacked out for a while and came to back in her own room, Auntie Ra sobbing tears of joy and Uncle Ku wanting to beat the living shit out of the men who were trying to take advantage of a young girl. It's not like police could do anything about it. It was then Aka stayed home to help out with the baking and only socialized with Ai.

Reaching to Junk Shop Heibon, Aoba stood outside with a taller man in a red kimono.

The man spotted her first and waved. "Oi, Akaku!"

"Hey Koujaku", she greeted. "Yo Aoba." She eyes the older man closer. "So, did you do him in the butt yet?"

Koujaku blushed ad red as his kimono. "Uh…well…erm, that goes without saying that-"

"Stop asking such vulgar questions", Aoba said, blushing as well. "It's embarrassing."

"Then hurry up and do it already", she said with a huff.

"Hey, Fish breath", Beni, Koujaku's red sparrow Allmate, greeted Ai.

Ai sighs. "When you properly call me by my name, I will acknowledge you."

"He will never learn", Ren said, lowering his ears.

"Anywho", Aka rolled her eyes, "I have this cake to deliver to Black Needle. Whose birthday is it?"

"It might be one of the Dry Juice member", Aoba said thoughtfully. "Someone must've ordered it ,but sweet! Free cake!"

"Let's go!" She skated forward, but someone gripped her arms and rolled her backwards.

"Akaku", Koujaku tsked. "Look at you. You look like a lion with your hair unkempt."

"Told ya", Aoba snickered, earning a glare from the red-head.

"Why don't you let me cut it", he asked.

"I like my hair like this" she answered.

"Very un-lady like to not to take care of your hair. Especially while going to visit Mizuki." Koujaku smiled at his friend's red face.

It's not like she had a choice. Mizuki was going to see her looking like a lion. But she always looks like a lion, but Dry Juice is celebrating someone's birthday meaning Mizuki was going to look even more handsome than normal… "Do you have any booby pins on you, Koujaku?"

"Plenty", he answered, reaching into his pack he kept around his waist.

"That's all I really need." After he handed her a handful of black bobby pins, she handed the cake over to Aoba and darted inside Junk Shop. After a few minutes, she came out, looking more like a young lady than a lion, earning a smile from the hairdresser.

Her bangs were parted and cupped the frame of her face down to her chin. The back of her head were still untamed but a few bobby pins laid her hair flat.

"Impressive", Koujaku commented. "You look very lovely."

"You look very pretty, Aka", Aoba said.

She girl blushed and carefully took the cake from the bluenette's arms. "Yeah yeah…let's just go already."

"Lead the way, ma'am", Koujaku said, grabbing his boyfriend's hand.

"Maaaaastaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

_**CRASH!**_

"Wah!" Aka, clutching the birthday cake for her dear life dodged whatever had fallen into the ground from the sky. "What…was that?"

Aoba sighed, letting go of Koujaku's hand. "Of course."

Whatever had fell quickly stood up six feet tall, dusted itself off as if nothing happened and ran up to Aoba. "Aoba! And Koujaku too! Good evening!"

"Good evening….Clear", Koujaku greeted as calmly as possible.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me 'Master'", Aoba yelled at stranger.

"Did I call you 'Master' again?" The stranger tiled his head to the side.

"Yes, you did", Aoba yelled again, to the stranger's face.

"Waaaaaah, I'm sorry. Forgive me!" He bowed lowly.

Aka, recovering from what had happen came from behind the stranger that fell from the sky. He wore a large lab coat with a yellow scarf. For all she knew, his hair was fair white and his face…was covered by a gasmask.

"One of your friends, Aoba?" She asked.

"Yeah…" he answered. "Aka, this is Clear."

"A.K.A. Gaskmask guy", Koujaku added.

Aka glanced at the guy, whom seem to stiffen when she looked at him. 'Weird', she thought, then she smiled at him. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Aka-"

"-Hime", finished Clear, in a low voice.

"Eh?" Akahime? "No, I'm Akaku."

Through that clarification, Clear started to spazz out. "Ack! I'm so sorry", he said as he bowed. "I thought you were someone else so I thought…"

'He's defiantly weird' Aka conclude. "It's fine" she said calmly. "It's not often that I get confused to be someone else."

"Even after being a shut-in for five years" Ai added. "It's impossible to confused Aka as someone else since Aka just started leaving her room."

"With all the Yaoi she has, I wonder how she even sleeps at night", Koujaku chuckled.

Aoba laughed.

Aka, red faced, started to skate forward. "Let's get going or no 'free cake' for you guys."

"Aw, wait for us, Aka!" Koujaku called out, but she ignored him.

"You ought to slow down, Aka", Ai said frantic, chasing her. "You're going too fast."

"Come on, Ai! Pick up the pace. You're a cat, after all!" She laughed.

"You forget my limitations as an Allmate…Ai!"

_**88888888888888888888**_

Though Aka did feel better after her friends embarrassed her about her Yaoi obsession, to which surprised her that Clear didn't know what it was until explained, she couldn't escaped doing the silly pose and cheer when she reached Black Needle, on the turf of Dry Juice. And it was Mizuki who ordered the cake.

"Reach fooooooor your sugar high!"

Aoba, along with several Dry Juice members, collapsed to the ground laughing. Koukaku was able to stifle his laughter while Clear looked around wondering why everyone was laughing. Mizuki, on the other hand, took the cake from the young girl's hand and patted her head.

"It's so nice that you could deliver this, Akaku", Mizuki said with a smile. "I really appreciate your hard work."

She averted her gaze from the man. "Thanks…"

"You look lovely today, too", he added. "You looked like a lion when I first met you, but now you look like a kitten."

The flattery was too much for Aka. "Th-th-thank you…" To escape, she dodged around the tattooist to get behind the bar. When they had first met, she accidently corrected him on how to make mixed drinks; to shake them and not stir. Whenever she was invited to come by, she would make drinks for him and his team members.

As it turned out it was one of the female member's birthday, who was already a fan of Tamaki Bakery, which made both the girl and Aka happy. While Dry Juice, Aoba, Koujaku (and somehow Clear) got a slice of cake, Mizuki started to play some music and allowed everyone to mingle. Aka, still a hermit and not use to walking up to people, stayed behind the bar and talked to members that ask for drinks. Even pouring herself some.

The night was going fine. At least…she thought it was.

"It's stupid", Mizuki grumbled as he sat on the bar stool.

"What is?" she asked.

"Rhyme", he answered.

'Uh oh….' "What about it?"

"It's becoming more popular nowadays. It's not even real…fighting in your head. It's a waste of time."

She poured him a shot of whiskey. "Well, maybe it's for people who can't physically fight. Maybe that's why Rhyme is what they do."

"That's why they should do Rib and learn how to fight" he counted, drinking his shot. "It's just stupid game. People who do Rhyme can rot in hell for all I care."

Aka was getting uncomfortable. She's the only one who does Rhyme in secret. She likes the game and helping others enjoy the game at the fullest. Plus, she can't fight to save her life, hence being a shut-in. Rhyme make her feel more open and out there with people. Of course she couldn't tell Mizuki that.

All of this was making her depressed.

"Aka", Ai said, coming off of Sleep Mode, "it's nearing 2am. You might want to head home."

She nodded. It'll be best to head off home now. She reached over and put Ai back to Sleep Mode. "I gotta go. See ya next time,'kay?"

Mizuki smiled at her sweetly. "Okay. Good night."

"G'night." She walked from the bar and left Black Needle, not bothering to find Aoba or Koujaku to ask to walk her home. She just wanted to be alone. It's not like one drink will make her unstable. She can get home just fine. She clicked her heels to activate her skates and slowly started to roll away, making her way out of Dry Juice's turf.

'Rhyme is not that bad' she thought to herself. 'I guess it all in your head, but it's not like fighting physically is any better. People can get really hurt. Or even die in a Rib fight.'

Becoming aware of her surroundings, she realized she made a wrong turn. But there were also footsteps coming from behind. Turning around, she saw two dirty men a few feet from her, eyeing her as if she was some piece of meat.

'This isn't good', she panicked. 'I can't fight and there's no one around to help me.'

"Hello, Miss", one of the men said, stepping forward. "You're all alone, aren't cha?"

"We can escort you to your home", snickered the other men.

"No thank you", she said calmly.

"Hey, don't be like that." The man's greasy hand touched her bare shoulders. "We're trying to be nice to ya. The least you could do is to appreciate our offer."

"Let go!" She was able to get the hand off of her, but man number two grabbed her from behind. "Hey!"

"Don't worry, Sweetie", whispered man number two. "It'll go easy on you."

This was not good for Aka. She struggled to get away from the men but she wasn't strong enough. 'No…no again.' She bent her head in defeat as the men started to grope her. 'No…no….NO!'

"Aka!"

She raised her to the sound of her voice. The men stopped touching her and glanced behind them. There, stood six foot tall, in a white lab coat wearing a gasmask…was Clear.

"Aka" he said, "are these your friends? You look like you're crying."

"Hey, buzz off, buddy" spat man number one. "We're busy here."

"You're hurting my friend", Clear said lowly. "I will not let you hurt her."

'We're friends already?' she thought. 'Though I am grateful to see him.'

"Son of a bitch", the guy behind her released her and cracked his knuckles. "Get out before I teach you a lesson."

"Clear!" she called out, tears knowingly streaming down her face.

Guy number two rushed towards Clear, but he quickly dodges and punched the guy in the gut, making him collapse to the ground.

"I won't let you make my friend cry", Clear said in a scary voice, aiming his attention to the other man who still had Aka in his grasp. "I won't forgive you if you hurt her."

Terrified, man number one quickly released the red-head and scurried off into the dark alley.

"Ah, there we go", Clear said happily, stepping over the now unconscious man, walking over to his friend. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"More terrified than injured." She quickly wiped her tears. "What were you doing here, Clear? I thought you were still at Black Needle?"

"I heard your voice, some I came", he said.

"Eh? My voice?" She remembered she was quite throughout the whole ordeal, besides telling them to 'let go'. How could he hear her from all the way to Black Needle? But, she was extremely grateful.

She went and gave Clear a hug. "Thank you so so much…I wouldn't know what to do if you didn't come when you did."

"Anytime. Were you going home?"

"That was the plan." She scratched the back of her head.

"I can walk with you, if you like", he offered.

Aka sighs in relief. "That would be nice. Better it was you than those men." She reached for his gloved hand.

"Yes! Let's go!" Clear cheered as he lead the way to Tamaki Bakery.


	2. Battle Two

**Battle Two**

**Technical Zone: Medium**

Again.

She was dreaming of this again.

She was holding the hand of a blindly white figure she was able to make out to be a man. He was leading her through white hallways, turning at random times until they've reached their destination. A red door appeared before them and the white man pushed it opened. In walked the man and the young red-haired girl into an office-like room.

Before them was another man figure but her eyes for some reason couldn't see facial features, only the color of brown is what she could see. The brown man was talking to the white. She couldn't understand their conversation. She never did. They would talk for minutes while she was staring at the clear floor that reflected her. Her hair large and unkempt like a lion's mane and her leaf-green eyes…she was so pale it frightens her.

A sound was heard from behind and she turned to see what it was. The red door they came from was open and two similar white men dragged in a young child with short red hair, a calm blond boy with glasses, and a younger boy with dark hair. She just stared at them, unknowing who they are…but the younger boy really tugged on her hard.

She was unnaturally seething mad at the sight of the dark-haired boy, she didn't know why. She just hated him, but for what? She raised her unheld hand towards the boy. Pink lightening danced around her fingertips. She hated him…Hate…Hate…

Her hand was then smacked by the brown man, yelling at her and violently shaking her. He then yelled at the white man who failed to hold her hand and turned towards the boys. She was then taken by her designated white man and left the room. She was now calm after being alone with the white man after he brought her back into her white room.

The man turned to leave, but she quickly grabbed his hand. She's pulled on him, trying to get her point across not to leave her alone. But the man received the message and stayed with her. It was then she would grab the blankets from her bed and sit in the man's lap, blankets wrapped around them.

….and the dream would always end there, as it was time to wake up.

Ai was rubbing his fuzzy face into Aka's, nudging her to wake up.

"Wake up, Aka", he said as her purred loudly. "Wake up!"

Aka grumbled as she sat up. She yawns and stretched, then laid back down, staring at her TACTical Murder poster she had on her ceiling. "Mmm….Morning, Ai."

"Good morning, Aka." He crawled up onto his owner's stomach and curled up into a ball. "Did you sleep well?"

"Not really", she answered, like every morning. "I keep having that dream again. It pisses me off."

"It still is happening? You've been having that dream ever since your parents died."

"Yeah…" She sighs.

"Has the dream changed a bit? Anything new?"

She shook her head. "No. Can't make out the faces or voices…same old, same old." She looked over her walls full of gay-on-guy posters. Over the five years she locked herself in her room, she made it her paradise. She had a bookshelf full of BL novels and mangas and a computer full of BL games and pictures. At one point, she had asked Ai if Allmates could be gay and he said 'no' rather quickly. But being in bed with her cat and her paradise was all she needed. In morning likes these, it was hard for her to leave her bedroom without motivation. But she made it out of her room for this long, she couldn't quit now.

She sat up, shaking her hair and catching the bobby pins that flew out. "Imma shower."

"Okay" Ai said. "Do your hair again. You still look lovely."

She grumbles. "Rawr!"

Then the day continued like normal. She made her deliveries, stopped by Junk Shop Heibon to say 'Hi' to Aoba before continues her routes. She did her hair like she did yesterday and received many compliments from the customers. She was caught in a single Drive-By, but she won with just one turn. She thought it was fine without her mask since the guy ran off with his tail between his legs.

It was near her quitting time so she headed over back to the bakery.

"I'm back" she announced.

"Aka!" She was greeted by Clear at the doorway as he embraced her.

"Wah! Clear!"

The man quickly let go. "Welcome home, Akaku." He bowed extremely low.

'My god, he's a spazz', she thought. "Uh…Clear, don't bow. And just call me 'Aka', okay?"

He quickly raised his head. "Yes!"

"Clear here is a regular customer of ours", Auntie Ra said from behind the cashier desk. "He fancies your treats quite a lot."

"He does?" She blushed. Sure, everyone loves her sweets. "But, if you're a regular, how come I haven't met you until yesterday?"

"He comes by every time you make a delivery, it seems", her aunt said. "He comes by, tells us some stories and orders your treats before leaving."

"Is that so?" She glanced at the gasmask guy and shrugged.

"I'm a huge fan of your cookies", Clear said. "I also like your chocolate chip brownies, your strawberry shortcake pound cakes, your kiwi-lime lollipops, your cinnamon toffees-"

"Okay okay!" She placed her hand over the mouthpiece of the mask. "I get it. You're a fan."

"Your very first fan compliment, Akaku", her aunt giggled. "He orders nothing but your sweets. You should be honored."

"I am…I…" she turned her head away from Clear's, unable to figure out what to do with her emotions. "I'm really happy you like my stuff."

"They are very delicious" he said.

"Yeah…" To hide her red face, she steps aside from the tall man. "Well since you're my fan, how about I make you something fresh on the house?"

"Really?!" Clear beamed.

"That's so nice of you, Akaku", her aunt said.

She walked behind the counter. "It's the least I can do since he's a fan. I might create something new while I'm here. You don't mind being my taste tester, Clear?"

"Not at all!" he said.

Aka nodded and headed towards the large kitchen where her uncle was, creating a huge wedding cake. She didn't bothering letting him know she was there so she got right to work. She loves to bake, to create something sweet and fun. Her aunt had told her that she had 'the magic touch' when it comes to baking and decorating treats. It seems so, too. She never made a mistake while making treats.

An hour tops, her brownie cake was done and cooled. She had already created fresh strawberry frosting to decorate the cake. While that was done, she shaved four curly ribbons of German chocolate to put around the cake and a fresh strawberry as a topping.

"Whew!" was all she said. Uncle Ku and Auntie Ra peered over her shoulders and gasped at her newest creations.

"That looks good, Aka", Uncle Ku said, patting her shoulders.

"Is that for Clear?" asked Auntie Ra.

"Yeah…I hope he likes it", she said, picking up the plate and leaving the kitchen. She found Clear sitting that the only table the shop had, humming to himself. "Here you go."

"Wooooooooooooow!" he gushed. "It looks so good! So perfect!"

"I said I'd make you something fresh", she said as she sat across from him. "Here", she handed him a spoon. "Eat up!"

"Thank you so very much, Aka!" he said. "I'll enjoy every bite!"

"Yeah yeah." She rested her head on her hand and stared into an empty space. Sure, she was happy about creating and baking and she's thrilled that she could watch her 'fan' enjoying her newest creation, but she's still affected by her constant dreams. No one knew about them but only Ai and herself, it was pointless to worry her Aunt and Uncle. They already have a lot of their plates.

She glances at her right hand, the use she tried to use against the dark-haired boy. What could she do? Does she even have that power now? Or are the dreams just meaningless and just the cause of her consuming too much sugar?

"Aka?"

"Hm?" She turned her attention back to Clear.

"Are you not well?"

"I'm fine", she assured. She notices that he was halfway done with the cake…and still had his mask on. "Okay, I'll bite. What's with the gasmask?"

"Eh?" He dropped his fork and holds on to the mask. "I can't ever take it off."

"And why not?"

"Because…" he got silent, making Aka even more curious. "I promised myself never to take it off until I am forgiven."

" 'Forgiven'?", she asked. "What, did you murder someone?"

He shook his head. "No…I failed to protect someone. They were my responsibility and I failed. And I'm not sure if that person forgives me…" He lowered his hand for a moment, and then sat straight up. "But that person is alive and well, though so that's good news."

"Yeah" she agreed. "So, this person", she thinks they could be an ex-lover or someone extremely important to him, "if you know that they are alive after failing to protect them, why don't you ask for their forgiveness?"

"Waaaaaaah?!" he exclaimed.

"Quit being a spazz", she yelled, then calmed down. "You can't go on being guilty for the rest of your life. If you want forgiveness, just ask that them. Don't just sit here sulking about it while eating cake."

"Oh…just ask?" He went silent, then nods. "You're right, Aka."

"Of course I am", she said, crossing her arms. "Any Human being would know this. And if that person is Human, they would've already forgiven you by now. It's unhealthy to hate someone for years upon years."

"Right…I understand!" He then reached across the small table and grabbed the girl's hand. "Thank you so much for teaching me this, Aka. I'm truly honored of being your friend."

Aka blushed at his praised. "It's…It's nothing. It's the least I could do for you since you helped me out last night."

"But a free cake and advice is too much for me", he said with a laugh.

"Well, you deserved it. You're my friend." She sounded very cheesy saying that, which made her blush even more. But she was able to make another friend. A spazzy friend that enjoys her treats, but all the same. A friend.

"Aka?"

"Hm?"

"Aka means 'red'. Akaku means 'blood', correct?"

"Uhhh…yeah, but I spell 'Akaku' as 'blush', not 'blood'.

"You're pretty when you blush, Akaku" he said.

That made her face turn completely red. "Don't say stuff like that to me!"

"I'm being honest, Akaku", he laughed.

"Just call me 'Aka', you spazz!"

"I think I'll stick to 'Akaku', it's a pretty name."

"Just 'Aka', Clear."

" 'Akaku', Akaku."

Unknowing to the bickering friends, Auntie Ra and Uncle Ku were watching them from the kitchen. Auntie Ra was getting very giddy watching her niece bickering at her new friend.

"I think we just found out who will marry our sweet little Akaku", she gushed out her husband.

" 'Gasmask guy' ?" Uncle Ku shook his head. "No way. The guy won't even show his face in public."

"Hunny, look at them! They are soooo cute!"

"Regardless of they look cute together, who are we to explain to him that she won't be able to age pass twenty-one when he's fifty-seven?" When he heard his wife sigh, he turned to her. "Even she doesn't even know. But before then, she might get captured by that bastard. We don't even know how many happy days she'll have before she has to run again."

She looked onto the flour-covered floor. "But she deserves happiness, right? At least we can give her that before the time comes, right?"

Uncle Ku smiled and hugged his wife. "Of course. We're her Aunt and Uncle. We're to support her. And she deserves her happiness…even it if with a boy who refuses to take off that goddamn gasmask."

Auntie Ra giggled. "Oh Ku…"

_**88888888888888888888888888**_

The next day was busy. Over 40 deliveries and she couldn't stop by to say 'Hi' to Aoba. She got home three hours later due to last minute deliveries and she was tired.

"Good work today, Aka", Uncle Ku cheered. "Today we were able to survive."

"Yeah…good work." She yawned and trudged up the stairs next to the cashier desk that led up to their apartment to go to her room. Sleep. That's all she needed. Even if that dream haunts her again, she needed sleep.

Once in her room, Ai jumped from her shoulders onto the bed. "Aka, are you going to bed right now?"

"Yeah…maybe…yes." She didn't hesitate crawling underneath her blankets. Once her head hit her pillows, she was out. And again, she dreamt that dream again. It wasn't like she could control it or change it. She just watches being taken to the brown man, being bored, watch the boys come into the room and hate the dark haired boy. Thing is, why would she hate him? Every time she dreams of him, he looks sad. And then the white man will take her away to her room, she would make him stay with her and sleep in his embrace while he was humming to her.

Humming? That was new. He never hummed in her dreams before. No, it wasn't coming from him. It couldn't be.

Slowly waking up, Aka stared up to see a gasmask peering down t her. It took her a few moments to react.

"Gaaah!"

"Good evening, Aka", greeted Clear. "Did you sleep well?"

Trying to calm down her racing heart, she quickly sat up, pillow in hand, and started attacking the man with it. "You are a creep! Why are you in my room? Why were you staring at me like that? It's fucking weird, you ass!"

Clear didn't do much effort to dodge the blows. "Waaaah, I'm so sorry, Aka. You looked so peaceful. But you looked like you were in pain so I hummed a song for you."

"That was you?!" She tried to hit him harder.

He covered his head as she hit him. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

She finally stopped and sat on her bed. "A warning would be nice if you were coming over, Clear. Or a Coil call."

"I'm sorry", he sniffled. "It won't happen again."

"Whatever, its fine" she sighs as she lay back in bed. At least she got some company today, though that company is in her room for some reason. Why was he there in the first place? "Anyway, what are you-"

"Wow!" Clear was at her bookshelf, looking over her books and games. "Koujaku wasn't joking. You are really into _Yaoi_." The excitement in his voice made her feel proud of her collection.

"It's not like I'm ashamed of it or anything", she said. "It makes me happy shipping guys together." She then remembers that he mentioned the Hairdresser's name and scowled. "What did Koujaku tell you about Yaoi?"

"Oh, that it's boys falling in love with other boys", he answered. "Also that you like to watch them have intercourse, though isn't that being a stalker watching two males make love?"

"It's not like I'm REALLY going out there to watch to guys make-out", she yelled. She couldn't believe this spazz. "The guys I like to watch are fictional!" 'But not Aoba and Koujaku', she wanted to added but kept her mouth shut.

"Oooooh! They aren't real?" He tilted his head to the side. "So you like watching two fictional males doing homoerotic things to each other for fun?"

That entire sentence made her pride sting. "If you put it that way, I guess you're right." God did the truth of her addiction hurts. "But it's not just that. I like the stories. The romance, the angst; it makes you wonder if they are good people like them out there on the streets."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her Honekoneko, pulled out her 3Ds and booted it up. "Come! Sit!" She patted the space next to her on the bed, which the man rushed over and sat by her. Going to her saved file of TACTical Murder named 'Blur's Route'. She last remembers playing the game before today's deliveries got out of hand.

One her top screen was an image of pink-haired boy with a tanned skin similar to Mizuki's. But only have of his face was of a metal and has red laser eye while his human eye was yellow. The boy was frowning, as though he was telling a sad story.

This didn't go unnoticed by Clear. "He's a robot", he said.

"Cyborg", Aka corrected. "His name is Blur and I'm head-over-heels for him."

"Even though he's not fully Human?" He sound shocked, which pissed her off.

"It isn't about his features, Clear", she snapped. "He has a good heart." She focused her attention to the boy on the screen. "He's sweet and kind though people treat him like crap because of what he looks like. He can play a violin piece that'll make you cry and he's always-always there for the main character."

Clear watched his friend as a soft pink blush taint her cheeks. He looked at the screen again. "It's not about his looks, but what he can do, huh? You're extremely passionate about that, Aka."

"Of course I am", she said. "If I judge people on their looks, I'd have no friends and be less of a Human. People shouldn't judge others, honestly. It's straight up stupid."

"I see….I understand now." Clear nodded. "It's what's on the inside that makes you a good person, not what's on the outside."

"That's what I've been saying." She closed her handheld console and faced the fair-haired man. "Speaking of that, your gasmask is still on. You still haven't talked to that person yet?"

That's when he started spazz out. "Wah! No-no, I haven't gotten around to that. You see…" he started to twiddle his fingers, "I'm not sure if that person wants to see me or even remembers me so…I think I'll keep the gasmask on for now."

Aka raise a brow. "You're not sure if they want to see you or even remember you? Then take off the stupid mask!"

"No! I still can't!"

"Look, if they don't remember then its fine to take it off." She reached the mask but the man dodged her hand.

"No, I really can't take this off", he whined. "Trust me, Aka."

"And trust _me_, Clear, that this is pissing me off. You have nothing to hide." She was able to grip the mask, which made him panic.

"Aka, please" he begged, holding on to his mask for his dear life. "It's not important."

"It is important to me." She gripped tightly onto the mask. "You need to let it go. Move on already. You have a fear that one person won't forgive you over a mistake. You're human, everyone makes mistakes."

"But…Aka." He tried to pull away.

This was making her even more pissed than before, making her body hot with rage. "Clear, take it off!" Feeling a small tingle from her fingertips, pink lightening shot out like sparks and hit the mask. This startled her and she quickly pulled back at the same time Clear did.

Aka glanced at her hands, trying to catch her breath. She saw it. She knew she did. The familiar pink light from her dreams. She got it to come out. 'It really wasn't a dream', she thought. 'No…it was never a dream.'

A loud crack echoed the room, bringing Aka back from her thoughts and focused on the man across from her. The gasmask was cracking and splintering until it completely shattered into pieces, making Clear spazz even more.

Aka smiled. She could finally get to see the spazz's face after three days. As the mask shattered and pieces landed onto her floor, his face of a rosy-cheeked, chinked-eyed Japanese woman was there before her. 'Clear…is a woman? As-fucking-if!'

"What the fuck, Clear?" she yelled. "You're wearing another mask? Why?"

"B-because I'm not normal", he whined, totally ignoring her little magic show.

"Ugh, that's it!" She grabbed her Honekoneko and Ai, and then stormed out of her room. She didn't need to deal with him right now. She needed air. No, she needed Rhyme. That'll make her cool down for a bit. Having a friendly battle, worry about Clear and her fancy new powers later. And with that, she left the Bakery.

Clear, who hasn't budged, squatted down to pick up the pieces of his broken mask. "That person is doing fine and is well" he murmured to himself. "They don't remember me…so is it okay to not hide now?" Once all the pieces were picked up, he sighed. "Maybe…Ack! I was supposed to bring her to Aoba and Koujaku and she ran off!" Running around in circles with a handful of the broken mask, he found a wastebasket at the side of her bed and took off after her.

"Oh no…where could she be?" he asked himself, running down the street opposite of where Aka truly went.


	3. Battle Three

**Disclaimer: **Do NOT own DRAMAtical Murder characters…but I want Clear *clings to Clear body pillow*

**Battle Three**

**Technical Zone: Medium**

"You had one job, Gasmask!" Koujaku yelled, running alongside with his boyfriend and their no-longer-wearing-a-gasmask friend. "One fucking job. How the hell did you let her run off when you were suppose to pick her up and bring her to Aoba's place?"

"I'm so sorry!" Clear tried to find Akaku but she was nowhere to be found. He then ran back to Aoba's home to tell them and Grandma Tae that Aka ran off after their scrabble over his mask. They have searched the West, South and East of the Old Resident District and still no sign of their red-headed friend.

"By the way", Aoba piqued, eyeing the Traditional Japanese woman mask Clear had on, "were you wearing that mask the whole time while wearing the gasmask?"

"Yes", he answered. "I wear it just in case."

"You look ridiculous", Koujaku grumbled. "It's a good thing Aka broke your other mask."

"….Really." Clear kept it a secret about _how_ Aka broke his mask. He saw it for himself. Pink sparks let her fingertips and clashed with his mask, making him pull back at the same time she did. Then it completely shattered into pieces. He didn't register in time that she was leaving because the shock of what she did…and also afraid that his second mask was also harmed.

They came back to Aoyagi Street, the main street of Old Resident District, catching their breaths.

"We haven't checked the North", Aoba said.

"But the North is dangerous", Koujaku exclaimed whiling trying to call her from his Coil. "Why would she be there when that's mostly 'Scratch's territory?" He cursed when the call didn't go through. "Shit. That's the only place we haven't checked."He faced Clear. "You better hope that she's safe and sound, Gasmask."

"Now now, Koujaku…" Aoba held back his boyfriend from furthering his insults. "Aka is probably safe and is just hiding while reading her Owie."

"_Yaoi_", Clear corrected.

"You even sound like her", he chuckled. "Come on. We'll be able to find her, no worries."

Koujaku sighs. "We better."

"We can~" Clear cheered.

Aoba nodded. "Good. Let's get going", and all three of them headed up to the forbidden North to find their friend.

_**88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888**_

This was her fifth Rhyme battle she was about to win and she was starting to get bored. Ai had talked her out of wearing her mask since they were in the Northern Distinct and '_noone in the North comes out in bright daylight_'. So she didn't wear it and she felt great when Rhymers will see her name. But it also annoyed her when they laugh about how small and weak-looking she appeared to be. She shut them up with her skills and wins the battles.

Her final battle was with a sleazy-looking guy that made a bet with her that if she lost, she'd belonged to him, regardless if she was the legendary Rosemary. She accepted it, of course and she was winning. The guy's Ape Allmate was all brute force and no defense or skills at all. That made the battle much easier for her.

"Aka", Ai said, standing next to her. "Instructions."

Aka always admired Ai's online body, mostly fangirling that he had the body of Yaoi guy that it was insane. He stood 6 foot, his long glossy black hair in a high ponytail with a rose clip holding it; some of his hair fell in his face. He had pale skin and toned muscles. He wore a tight shirt that came down to his belly button, black skinny jean that has a rose belt buckle similar to her own and combat boots that went up his calf. His face was just gorgeous, it'll make any girl, including Koujaku's fans, weep for him. He also held a kunai knife in one hand and a shuriken in another. Though he's a cat Allmate, his specialty is Ninja.

She had the urge to fangirl over him, but she was still in a battle. "Let's end this quickly. Kunai Storm, Set!"

"Roger!" He then jumped high in the Rhyme field and threw his kunai at the monkey. That single kunai spilt into over a dozen kunais and attacked not only the Allmate, but the owner as well, lowering their durability to zero.

"Good job, Ai!" She went to hug her friend.

"No problem", he said. "They were weak in the first place."

"Tell me about it." She rolled her eyes. "Let's return."

"Roger. Disengaging Rhyme."

After a moment, Aka returned back to the real world, only to find herself in trouble. Ai was kicked a few feet from her, unmoving and her opponent was choking her.

"Yer tough, _Rosemary_", the man said, his rancid breath hitting her face, "but I won't let you go that easily."

"Let…go", she choked out, gripping the hand around her neck. "I won…go away!"

"Not a chance" he chuckled. "What a chance I have to seduce the famous Rosemary and get to tell the tale." He started to grope her breast. "What fine knockers you have…"

"Stop!" This was gross for her she started to cry, but she was pissed beyond belief. She won fair and square so he should leave her alone, not do this. This stupid fuck! "Let…go….Let go…" She gripped the hand around her neck tightly. "Let go! Let go! LET GO!"

Her hands started to tingle and her body jolts as pink energy wave came from her body onto the sleazy man. His body started to shake violently as he let go of her neck. He collapsed to the ground, foaming from the mouth as his eyes stared into nothing. Aka watched in horror as the man stopped moving all together, foam seeping from his open mouth.

She stayed close to the wall, shocked. Frighten. She couldn't move. "What…what did I do?" she asked, knowing no one would answer her.

But someone did.

"You did us a favor."

From the other side of the room stood two classy-dressed men. One of them was a few inches shorter than the other one with blond hair, blue eyes and wore glasses. He was in a black suit wearing a yellow plaid tie. The taller male also have blonde her and blue eyes. He wore a white dress shirt underneath his yellow plaid vest and a black tie. The man with the glasses was smiling at her while the taller man looked bored.

They slowly approached the collapsed man, checking his vital signs.

"Yep, he's dead", said Glasses man.

"Totally dead", said the bored man in a bored manner.

'Dead?' she thought in horror. "I…I killed him?"

"Indeed you did", said Glasses man. "Though we were supposed to dispose of him an hour ago but couldn't find him. You helped us by a lot."

"Thank you", said the bored man.

"But…but…" Tears ran down her face. She _killed_ someone. She didn't want to kill the guy. It was by accident. She just wanted him to go away.

"Ah, don't cry, Miss", said the Glasses guy, pulling out a handkerchief.

"Don't cry." The bored man repeated the same action. They slowly approached and wiped away her tears, the Glasses man on her right and the bored man on her left.

"Sorry we didn't get here sooner", the glasses man cooed her by patting her head.

"We couldn't find him on time", said the bored man, patting her shoulders.

"But the bad guy is dead now", glasses man smiled.

"You are safe now."

Their friendly attitude was extremely foreign to her. She just killed someone, but they say that it was okay. "So…it wasn't my fault?"

"Right", they answered at the same time.

"It's ours", said the glasses man. "We couldn't have stopped him from harming you in time so his death is our fault, right?"

"Right." The bored man nodded.

"…Right." They were right. It wasn't her fault, they were supposed to stop him and 'dispose' of him themselves. If he hadn't challenged her, she would've been on her merry way to battle someone else. Her guilt was fading away fast and her mind was finally clear.

That reminded her. "Ai!" She ran to her Allmate and picked him up. She touched his forehead to start him up. "Ai…Ai!"

Soon, he came to life. "Aka?"

She was extremely relieved that she hugged him tightly. "Thank goodness…that was dangerous. Are you okay? Any damages?"

It took him a moment to answer. "My speakers are a little off as well as acknowledging some commands."

"Your chips must've been fried when he kicked you, but you're still okay, right?"

"No other problems", he answered.

"Good…good. I'll fix you when I get home. Rest easy."

"Right." He automatically went to sleep mode.

She was happy now. Her best friend has some minor damages that she could fix on her own but they were both safe.

"She's quite attached to her Allmate, isn't she?" Glasses man asked the bored man.

"Yes…it seems so", he answered.

She turned to face the men behind her, a little nervous. "Uhh…who are you guys?"

"Oh?" The glasses man smiled kindly at her. "My name is Virus and this is Trip."

"Yoo-hoo!" Trip waved at her.

Aka started to relax a little. Sure, these two are…odd, but they have been extremely kind to her since they appeared. She bowed politely at them. "Pleased to meet you two. I'm Akaku."

"Ah, Akaku", Virus nodded, "as in 'blood', right?"

"That's a cool name", Trip commented.

She wanted to correct them, but she might as well leave it alone. "Thank you."

"Since we are all friends now, how about we take you out of here, eh?" Virus came over to her right side and places his hand on her shoulder.

"Right…" Trip did the same to her left.

She was a little nervous about these two but she left them to escort her the way out of the building. Analyzing them both, a question popped in her head. "You both look similar…are you two twins?"

"We are not twins", Virus answered at the same time Trip answered, "We're not twins."

Aka laughed. "You're kidding!"

"Not joking", Virus answered.

"Wow, it must be fun being you two", she said, smiling.

That made both men look at each and smile.

"It can be", Virus said.

"Yep", Trip chimed.

Once they were out of the building, the night air hit Aka peacefully. She was out of them, away from the dead man that once tried to take advantage of her. She really did owe Virus and Trip. Digging into her Honekoneko, she pulled out the last of her packaged cookies. "Here", she handed to the men, "as a token of our friendship."

"Cookies?" Virus asked.

"Looks tasty." Trip didn't hesitate taking them. "He doesn't consume sweets much", he said, nodding his head towards Virus.

"Oh, but cookies are alright", Virus said, reaching over to pat her head again. "Thank you for such a kind gesture. Now we are friends."

"Friends, huh…" Trip put a cookie in his mouth and chew it. "….it's good."

"Aka!" called out a few voice from behind.

Appearing from behind were Koujaku, Aoba, and Clear…still wearing a women's mask. Aoba and Koujaku stopped a few feet from her while Clear embraced her.

"Aka!" he wailed. "I'm so so sooooo sorry that I made you run off like that. I won't upset you ever again. Please don't hate me."

"Wah! You're fine….Clear, let go!" She was happy to see her friends, but the anger on Koujaku's face was what startled her. "Uh…Koujaku?"

"It's Aoba", Virus said.

"Ao-ba!" Trip waved at him.

"Virus? Trip?" Aoba was shocked to see them. "what are you two doing here?"

"You know them, Aoba?" Aka asked, finally out the spazz's embrace.

"You know them too?" he asked.

"We just met her", Virus asked. "She ran into some trouble and rescued her, right?"

"Right", Trip answered, eating another cookie."

"Right", Aka agreed.

Koujaku was not happy about this one bit that he yanked on the girl's arm and pulled her behind him. "What were your real reasons? You guys don't 'rescue' anyone without a motive." He pulled out his sword and aimed at the men. "You guys are Yakuzas. Akaku isn't going to be your whore."

Aka peered from behind her friend. "Yakuza? No, they are not."

"Erm…they are", Aoba said, putting his hand on his boyfriend. "But Koujaku, they are off duty and it doesn't seem that Aka is hurt."

"Doesn't matter", he snapped. "Yakuza are Yakuza until they die."

"Oh dear", Virus sighed. "He won't listen to us."

"Seems so", said Trip.

It was a shock that the men that came to her rescue were Yakuza, but they didn't do anything bad to her. They didn't harass her, but just comfort her. They also accepted her cookies so that makes them her friends, too, regardless if they were Yakuza. With that, she stood in front of the enraged hairdresser to block him from hurting her new friends.

"Don't hurt them", she said. "They did nothing wrong but helped me."

"With what?" He directed his anger at her. "What could they possibly help you with without a motive?"

"I was…" She didn't want to say it, that she doing Rhyme with a man that lose and wanted to take advantage of her. She didn't want to. This was making want to cry.

"I understand", said Clear.

"Huh?"

Clear faced the Yakuza and bowed lowly. "Thank you for protecting Akaku when she really needed help. We truly appreciate it."

For Clear to bow that low made the Yakuza smile. "My, you do have some friends with manners, Aka. But, we ought to go do our business, us being Yakuza and all." He sent a smirk at the hairdresser, then back at the girl. "Goodbye, Aka."

"Bye bye Aka, Ao-ba!" Trip waved at them and followed Virus.

_**8888888888888888888888888888888**_

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING RUNNING OFF ON YOUR OWN AT NIGHT?!" Grandma Tae yelled at Aka, whom was cowarding behind Clear. "We were worried sick. Be glad they found you in time before I called your aunt and uncle. You're as hopeless as Aoba."

Instead of returning Aka home, Aoba thought it would be a good idea to bring her to his home to ease his grandmother's worries. Also, he makes him happy that she was yelling at someone else other than him.

"I'm sorry", Aka said weakly. "It won't happen again, I promise." After knowing Aoba for two months, she quickly gotten use to Grandma Tae's loud voice

"And YOU!" Tae glared at Clear.

He jumped. "Y-yes?"

"You were the one who scared her off and caused dinner to get cold", she scolded. "You were to just bring her here for dinner. You're lucky you guys found her before she really got hurt."

"I'm so sorry", he bowed lowly. "Forgive me. I won't do it again~~~~"

"The food is still warm enough", called out Koujaku from the kitchen.

"It taste great, Granny", chimed in Aoba.

Tae sighs and looked at the troublesome adults. "Go get some food. After you eat, return her home, Clear."

"Yes ma'am." Both Aka and Clear retuned back to the kitchen where their friends were. Grandma Tae some miso soup, sweet and sour pork and a batch of brownies. Ignoring the rest of the food Aka reached for a brownie and nibbled on it. It tasted weird. It lack sugar and the ingredients tasted a little stale. Regardless if it has been sitting out for an hour of two, brownies aren't suppose to taste like this, but she sucked it up and devour it.

Grabbing another one, she realized that Clear was eating with that mask on, but she was able to make out some of his features. He had smooth white skin and from the tiny eye holes on the mask, his eyes were a simmer pink color. 'Interesting', she thought to herself, 'they look pretty.'

"I'm a little worried about Mizuki", said Koujaku with a sigh.

That brought Aka back to reality. "Huh? What about Mizuki?"

Koujaku shook his head. "Ugh…He's been acting weird as of late", he said. "He's not talking to me like he used to and he seems to have his head in the clouds."

"Sounds like he's in love", Clear swoon. "Lucky him."

That made Aka frown. "So…he has a girlfriend, huh?" She asked, hoping it was a 'no.'

Luckily for her, Koujaku shook his head. "No, it isn't a girl and he's not in love either. I tried talking to him earlier today and he snapped at me, but he did apologize sourly." He sighs. "I can't get through to him."

"We all should visit him tomorrow", Aoba said, sipping on his tea. "Maybe he just needs us around more often. You know, someone outside of his Rib family."

"As long there isn't a rush at my end, I'm down." Aka nodded.

"I'll come too!" Clear raised his hand like a child. "I want him to feel better."

Aka giggled. "You know, if you weren't such a spazz, I'd totally ship you with Mizuki." That comment made the couple groan.

" '_Ship_'?" Clear tilted his head to the side. "You plan on taking us somewhere?"

"Don't question her, Gasmask", Koujaku said, irritated. "I swear, Aka, I thought you wanted Mizuki, but you'd rather like Gasmask take your place?"

Aka blushes bright red. "It's…I…I don't want him!"

"Your face is betraying you", Aoba snickered. "Speaking of which, why don't you go see him be yourself. We'll give you some 'alone time' with each other."

"He does have a thing for you, Aka" Koujaku nodded. "I say go for it."

"B-b-b-b-b-but I…." Words failed her as she covered her face with her hands, making her friends laugh at her. After being a shut-in for five years, she's still getting use to Human Interactions and 'flirting' and 'love' aren't her strong points. Sure, she's been crushing on Mizuki for weeks, but that doesn't give her the courage to go up to him and confess her love. 'Oh my god, I don't love him', she thought. 'He's just nice and very handsome and strong…' "Ugh…I hate you all…"

That made the couple laugh and Clear stayed silent throughout the entire event. Once they were full from dinner, Aka and Clear said their goodbyes to the couple and Grandma Tae before leaving, Clear escorting Aka back home.

Aka checked the time on her coil. "11:37, huh?" She sighs. "Once I get home, I gotta check up on Ai and make sure he's not malfunctioning everywhere."

"Will he be okay?" Clear asked.

"He will", she said. "He is a new model but I still have to make sure his insides and chips are okay. For all I know, his speakers are dislocated." She reached behind her neck where her cat was on sleep mode. "He's my very best friend. I think I'd die if anything happened to him."

"Even though he's an allmate?"

She frowned. "He might be an Allmate to everyone, but he's a person to me, machine or not. I'll fix him and love him until my last breath."

"Your compassion to Ai is really amazing", Clear said. "But do you feel the same about Mizuki?"

Hearing Mizuki's name made her face hot. "What? We-we're talking about Ai here, not Mizuki."

Clear stopped walking. "Your body temperature always seems to rise whenever Mizuki is mentioned and your face turns red. You're affectionate when it comes to Mizuki."

"Where is this coming from?" Aka was confused. They were just talking about Ai, but the topic jumped from her friend to Mizuki.

"Aoba and Koujaku always seem to make your blush, too." His voice seems to be angry. "Rather they are teasing or not, yet you love them too."

"Well…yeah", she said. "They are my friends and so are you, Clear-"

"But I'm very much different from all of them", he snapped, startling Aka. "I'm nothing like them and it seems that Mizuki loves you too."

All of this was making Aka really confused. Over and over, she questioned 'What the hell is up with this spazz' until the answer popped into her head, making her blush. "My god…Clear, are you jealous?"

"Jealous?"

"Yeah."

"What is that?" he asked. "It sounds like something you made up. Is it a food?"

Aka couldn't take any more of his 'cute spazzez' so she laughed. "Clear, you're totally jealous."

"This is not the time to talk about food, Aka", he said in a stern voice.

"No no, Clear", she tried to calm down. "Jealousy isn't food, it's an uncomfortable feeling."

"Huh?" He tiled his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"And I thought I was a shut-in", she muttered to herself before explaining. "You feel that I'm giving more attention to Aoba, Koujaku and Mizuki than you are, but in reality I don't." She touched his shoulders. "Besides Ai, Koujaku, Aoba and you are my real friends outside my job. I don't know Mizuki well enough to call as my 'friend', but I don't love him. What I feel for Mizuki is a 'crush', a feeling that will fade in time, not love." She then sighs. "Sure, it might look I'm giving my attention to those guys and you feel left out, but the more time you and I spend together, we can get close like I'm close to them. Okay?"

Clear stared at her, his pink eyes twinkled in excitement. "Yes! Yes, I understand now. If I spend more time with Aka, we'll become close." He them pulled her into a tight embrace. "Thank you for clearing that up, Aka. I learn more when I'm with you."

"It's…" She wanted to say that it wasn't a big deal, but she had a feeling that she might have some things in common with the man. 'Maybe he's a shut-in, too?' So instead, she hugged him back. "You're welcome. You can talk to me anytime."

With that, they continued to walk until they reached her home. They hugged again and said their goodbyes. Aka watched as Clear pulled out an umbrella from his coat jacket (how the hell did that thing fit in there), and walked away. Aka then walked inside, checked in on her Aunt and Uncle before closing herself in her room.

"Ai", she said, putting her cat on the bed, waking him from sleep mode. "Can you hear me?"

It took a moment, but Ai woke up. "Aka."

"I'm gonna go ahead and repair you, okay?" She reached underneath her bed for her tool box. Thanks to her being friends with Aoba, she learned how to repair Ai without relying on her Coil like a regular person. Though she could use her coil since Ai was a new model, she felt like a doctor fixing him this way. Pulling him to her Coil, she checked for errors before opening him. His speakers were knocked out from its screws so she had to put in new one to safely secure the speakers. His right paw was stuck in place, so she had to carefully move it and rotate it until it worked perfectly.

After she was done repairing and ran some tests, it was getting close to 4am.

"Whew!" She lay back on her bed, cuddling with Ai. "All done. How do you feel?"

"Much better", he answered. "You should get some rest, Aka. You've been working hard."

"Hmm…maybe a chapter of TACTical Murder before bed." She reached for her Honekoneko to get her 3Ds.

Ai sighs. "If you're unable to wake up, you can only blame yourself."

"Oh come on, Ai!" She scratched behind his ears before starting her game. "My Yaoi count is low. I need something that'll help me sleep."

"If you say so", and the cat Allmate left it to that as he curled up on top of his owner's chest while she held her game console above her head. Ai was grateful of his owner, no matter how weird and childish he thought she was, but she cared for him a lot. Most Allmate owners wouldn't even care for him, but Aka treated him as a person, a loyal friend.

_**888888888888888888888888888888888**_

Virus was having a nice glass of the finest wine while analyzing two different pictures that were on his Coil. Across from him was Trip, enjoying Aka's cookies, refusing to share with Virus, not like he cared. Virus was pleased for the nice and all he wanted was his wine and his small victory.

"It looks like we're gonna have to hide another interesting creature from Toue", he smiled, sipping on his wine.

"Can we afford to hide her", Trip asked, crumb leaving his mouth. "It was by accident that we found her. And she is to be brought back home immediately once found."

"Ah, true", Virus sighs. "The boss wants her back home…but we can wait a little before turning her in. We can still have our fun."

Trip nods. "Yeah…"

Virus smirked, mesmerized by the pictures before him. On the right-hand side of his Coil screen was a picture on Akaku, along with her information including age, Rhyme name, address and her current interests. One the left-hand side was a picture of a five year old with red hair that looks to be a lion's mane and leaf-green eyes. The young girl's experiment number was 52-78-T, but the name she really went by was…

"Akahime Toue", Virus whispered, swishing his wine in his glass. "We finally found you…"


	4. Battle Four

**Battle Four**

**Technical Zone: Low**

Again with the same old dream.

Aka wonder if she should even talk to Uncle Ku and Auntie Ra about them. Even since her parents died, she's been having them. Over and over again. But tonight's dream was different. Her dreams usually ends with her laying on the white man's lap…but it didn't end like that. The white man was talking to her. That was weird…the voice was muffled, but it was light and sweet. She could only make out some words.

"Different…you and I….defects…escape….better life…protect you."

She then received a kiss on her cheek and he tightens his embrace. "Protect you…promise."

_Protect you…promise….Protect you…promise…..Protect you….promise…._

Aka quickly jolt awake from the dream, tears streaming down her face. Why was she crying? Were those words meant to mean something? She just couldn't stop crying; it felt like her heart was ripped into two and then burned in front of her. Why did it hurt so much? Did that white man mean something to her?

Ai nudged on her arm. "Aka…are you okay? What did you dream about?"

It took her a moment to realize that she was in her Yaoi paradise room and her Allmate friend was trying to get her attention. She told Ai what happened in her dreams and that her heart was hurting.

"That is unusual", he said. "Though it was a dream, maybe it's something from your past?"

"You…think so?" She sniffles, trying to calm down. She didn't really remember much about her childhood. All she remembered were being in a white place similar to her dreams, being adopted by her parents that later died after a month of living with them and living with her Aunt and Uncle until now. "Maybe…the place did look familiar, but I couldn't find it on the internet." She sighs and lay back on her bed. She was a bit calm, but her heart still stung. "Maybe I'm crazy…Schizo or something."

"Highly doubt it." Ai pounced on his owner's stomach and curled there. "If you were mentally unhealthy, I would know. We've been together for a while and I would've picked up on some things. So you are fine. Recurring dreams that are emotional do happen, Aka."

"Yeah…you're right." She pats his head, making his ears twitch. "Thank you so much, Ai. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Anytime."

Ai words did make her feel better, but her heart says otherwise.

_**8888888888888888888888888888888888**_

"_Hello Cruel World, did I keep you long_", Aka sang, skating her way, making a delivery. Her heart has yet to recover from her dream, but she didn't want to stay in bed for too long to sulk. She has made it this far not to be in her room unless she was tired or relaxing. So she helped her aunt and uncle bright and early in the morning and also made a fresh batch of her cookies and treats. When she was finished, business was booming and she had to make over ten deliveries.

And so, the day started out as normal.

Waiting to cross the street, she continued to sing along with her Voltaire song. "_And I've complained, again and again._" She was about to cross the street, not seeing a man zooming on his motorcycle. As she took a step out, she was yanked from behind, avoiding the man. The event has startled her as she cautiously took out her earbuds. "Holy shit dude…"

The person riding the motorcycle turned his head towards Aka. He glared at her with his cold teal-colored eyes and continues to speed on.

"Good thing I pulled you out of the way in time." Koujaku, pulling her next to him, sighs. "Honestly, that guy shouldn't be on the streets if he can't see pedestrians in bright daylight."

"Yeah", Aka nervously answered. She just avoided death, thanks to Koujaku. "Thanks. That was scary."

"Making a delivery?" he asked.

"Huh…oh yeah!" she answered, carefully crossing the street along with the hairdresser. "My final one and I thought I'd go visit Aoba."

Koujaku nods. "Is that so? Then I'll accompany you."

Aka shot an annoyed look at him. Sure, she was grateful that he saved her from certain death, but Koujaku was known to skip out on errands to hang with the ladies. She wasn't an exception though she didn't like him like Aoba does. "Don't you have hair to cut or fans to pleased?"

"I don't need to please my fans", he said. "They all can wait for me. I'm only one person."

"You're a piece of work", she giggled. "It was a good idea that I shipped you with Aoba." She glanced up at her friend. "Speaking of, did you guys do it yet? Huh? Huh?"

Koujaku's cheeks were tainted red as he looked away. "That's not something to discuss right now…Aka."

"Whatever", she said with a shrug. 'I'll just have to ask Aoba.'

With Koujaku tagging along, she made her final delivery and headed off to Junk Shop Heibon. Koujaku was a fun person to talk to. When Aoba first introduce her to him, she already had her 'Yaoi two-sense' butting in until it became reality. But in all honesty, Koujaku was like a big brother to her, full of confidence. He was lax and nice. He seems to understand her poor social skills and still accepted her as his friend. 'I wish I could be as confident as him' she thought to herself.

_**888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888**_

"You ought to take off that mask if you're gonna stay in here", Aoba told Clear as Aka and Koujaku walked into the shop. "The customers already think that you're a woman." Aoba had to deal with Clear since he came to work. Clear walked in and sat in the corner while customers would walk in and be confused about Clear's gender.

"Waaaaah, but I can't do that!" Clear held onto his woman mask as if his life depended on it.

"He still has that thing?" Koujaku asked, shaking his head.

"Oh, hey guys." Aoba waved.

"Aka!" Clear ran over and embraced the girl. "Aoba wants to take off my mask and I can't do that!"

"Uhh…seriously, Clear", she said warily, breaking from his embrace. "You ought to take that thing off and stop procrastinating."

"Eehh?! I'm not procrastinating, Aka", he said, shaking his head.

"Oh please", she snapped, "it's been three days since I told you to", she had to pause, not waiting to spill his secret, "take the stupid thing off. Do it or I'll rip it off and snap it in half!"

"Thank you", both Aoba and Koujaku agreed.

Clear began to fidget, tugging on his white gloves. "Uh…um…I…"

Aka really didn't have time for this. She knew he'll spazz out on her more and she didn't want last night's accident to happen again. "Look, if you would like, I have a hospital mask you can borrow so people can tell your gender."

Clear got excited. "Really? Yay!"

Aka then focused her attention on Aoba behind the counter. "I came by to say 'hi' before I returned back to the shop."

Aoba nods. "Thanks for checking on me, but why are _you_ here?", he glared Koujaku.

"I thought I'd tag along with Aka since I wanted to say '_hi_' myself." He winked.

That was Aka's cue to leave the secret couple alone. She grabbed on to Clear's yellow scarf and dragged him out of the store. "Then Clear and I will be going. Bye bye!", she was able to call out before running out, pulling Clear with her. 'And they better do it today', she thought with a smile.

"W-wait! Aka!"

"Hm?" When they were nearing the bakery, she slowed down. "Sorry Clear. You gotta give Aoba and Koujaku some space sometimes."

He tilted his head. "Eh, why?"

'Damn…I can't tell him yet', she thought. "Well…I think they had something extremely important to discuss and with us butting in will cause them some problems."

"Really? I see…" Nodding to himself, he grabbed Aka's hand and marching on towards the bakery. "Then let's leave them be until they're done."

'I can't believe he believed me'. A small sweatdrop came down her face. Entering the shop, five desserts were waiting on her and Auntie Ra was on the phone, writing down an order.

"Auntie, give me five minutes", she said as Clear pulled her up the stairs. "I'll deliver those soon."

Auntie Ra covered the speaker on her phone. "Dear, a Quickie takes a little longer than that."

'What?' Aka didn't have time to question her Aunt. As she and Clear made it up to her room, she went over to her bookshelf in search of her hospital mask for Clear. "I swear, Clear. You could've made life a lot simpler for yourself if you had actually found that person and talked to them. Or maybe I should talk to them for you?"

"T-T-There's no need, Aka", he stuttered. "I'll talk to them…some day."

She rolled her eyes. "I give you a week…Ah ha!" She was using it as a bookmark and she found it. Sliding it out of her BL book, she examines the white hospital mask that had a drawing of a cute pink jellyfish on it. It was her favorite. A man in town gave it to her when she was little when her parents were still alive. She would wear around the house. She was surprised that that and some other items survived the fire.

"Here you are, Clear." She stood up and handed the mask over to the man.

In the eyeholes of the mask, Clear's eyes widen. "It's a jellyfish!"

"Yeah", she nodded. "I like jellyfishes."

"Me too!" he said, holding onto Aka's wrist. "My Grandpa used to tell me all about jellyfishes. I even have my own jellyfish song. He loved it when I sing it to him."

Aka giggled. He was so cute when he got this excited. "Really? You gotta sing it to me sometimes." She could see his eyes twinkle in excitement.

"I will! I promise!"

Aka nods, and then looks down at the ground. She has yet to apologize for breaking his mask. "Hey, I'm really sorry for breaking your gasmask. It was an accident…I…" she still couldn't comprehend how she did it in the first place. While avoiding the man's eyes, she saw that her waste basket was full of pieces of the gasmask, which only made her feel worse.

"It's okay, Aka", Clear said, breaking the silence. "It wasn't your fault. I…need to have more confidence." He then took the hospital mask from Aka's hands. He stared at it, pondering about the choice he was about to make…and then he finally gulped. "Um…Aka?"

She lifts up her head. "Yeah?"

"Would you…would you like to see my face?"

She gasps a little. She was going to finally see his face, but she notice how nervous he was acting. "Uh…are you sure, Clear? You've been a bit anal about showing your face to people since we've met." 'It has only been a few days too', she thought.

He nodded. "I know but…I'll only show you, Aka…because you're my friend and I want to be close to you like you're close to the others."

'Is that what it's all about?' Her face couldn't get any redder. "Uh…"

"But", he continued, "I apologized for whatever you see. I know I am very ugly, so please _please_ don't hate me for this."

Aka blinked for a moment. 'Oh…so he is a shut-in like me.' She felt good and sad for Clear. Sure she had someone to relate about not having friends, being weird with odd habits or just being weird all together. But she finally gain some friends and she and Clear were on the same boat, at least that's what she thought.

She reached over and touched Clear's hand that was holding her jellyfish hospital mask. "Clear, it doesn't matter if you're ugly or not. You can be a monster, but you'll still and forever be my friend."

His eyes widen from behind his mask. "Really, Aka? Do you really mean that?"

She nods. She truly meant it. "Of course."

"…okay." The man put the jellyfish mask onto Aka's bed. Then he nervously raised his hands over to his woman's mask. "Again, Aka…I apologized for what you're about to see…" With trembling hands, he slowly took off his mask.

The sight was astounding. In front of Aka stood not quite a man, but a young man. Probably close to her age. His face was smooth and flawless with the cutest duo moles on the right side of his chin. His eyes were a beautiful shade on pink, avoiding looking at her as they stared at the ground. To Aka, he was too beautiful. Yaoi beautiful.

"That's not fair", she said, her jaw nearing dropping to the ground. "You're…seuke!"

"E-excuse me?"

Aka quickly shook her head, trying to rid her thoughts of Yaoi. "It's a compliment, no worries. It's just…, damn it, Clear! You're a spazz but you're a cute spazz."

"Eh?" He tilted his head to the side. "So…I look okay? I'm not a monster?"

Aka blushed slightly. "You are extremely cute, Clear. Thank you for showing me your face." Her heart couldn't stop fluttering. It was making her face even more red.

"You're beautiful when you blush, Akaku." Clear smiled gingerly. "Thank you for being so kind."

Aka couldn't take it anymore of this cuteness. Her heart felt like it was going to burst and go on a cuteness frenzy. She wanted to glomp the young man in front of her, but there was a knock on her door.

"Akaku", her aunt called from behind the door, "It's been over five minutes. Are you two having sex?"

"WHAT?!" Without hesitation, Aka went to her door and fling it open, seeing her aunt grinning like a cat. "Why would you…why did you…what's wrong with you?"

Auntie Ra laughed. "I'm just teasing. You have over fifteen deliveries now so chop-chop!" She peered over her niece's head to see Clear with only the top half of his face showing, wearing a hospital mask with a drawing of a jellyfish. The mask covered from his nose down to his chin. "I see you downgraded from your gasmask, Clear. Good for you!"

"Th-thank you, Misses Ra." Clear bowed.

_**8888888888888888888888888888888888888**_

After fifteen deliveries, Aka done for the day. Clear had tagged along throughout her deliveries, waving and greeting the customers. They were on their way to Junk Shop Heibon to see Aoba, but right outside they heard Koujaku yelling at someone.

"What's going on?" Aka, along with Clear, raced up to the junk shop.

Koujaku was there, along with Aoba trying to calm him down with Mizuki. Across from the men was another man in green. Getting a closer look, the man looked closer to her age with all the piercing on his face and the 'I don't care' attitude he was giving off.

"Do you really want to fight", Koujaku barked at the green guy.

"Tch, are you sure you won't break your hip, old man?" The green guy didn't make direct eye contact with Koujaku.

"Wah, Noiz!" Clear next to the green guy, "you promised you weren't going to pick a fight with Koujaku."

"I didn't promise", Noiz said, glancing over at Clear. "I said that I'd tried. Besides, he started it. Nice mask, by the way. You finally downgraded."

"Don't be such a brat!", Aoba said. "Koujaku only said 'Hi' to you."

Mizuki sighs. "Why can't we ignore him? He's a Rhymer."

"Eh?" Aka stared at the green guy. Sure, his clothes looked a bit odd and cool-looking at the same time, but she spotted his Allmates looped around his belt.

Noiz caught her staring, his emerald green eyes looking her over. His eyebrows raised in curiosity. "You look too normal without your mask…"

"I do?" Clear started to spazz out. "I knew it! I look terrifying!"

"Not you, dipshit", he grunted. "You." He pointed his chin towards Aka.

Aka was confused. "Me? I don't wear a mask."

Noiz looked her over. "Rhyme name: Rosemary. Your belt is your trademark; it appears every time you're in battle, though you're mask hides your face."

"Wah…what?!" Aka was freaking out. She never told her friends that she did Rhyme and hope to keep it a secret.

"She doesn't do Rhyme", Mizuki countered. "She would never play such a pointless game. She has better things to do", he snarled.

"You might have her confused as someone else", Aoba kindly added. "Aka never played Rhyme before."

Noiz didn't believe the guys, nor listened. He continued to stare down Aka, whom was looking at the ground to avoid his gaze. He knows that he's right. The belt buckle was proof enough. Throughout his research, no one knew the true identity of Rosemary because her face was covered. But the only clue Rhymers had was that she had a Rose belt buckle and a black cat Allmate, which the girl has around her neck. Rosemary also had red hair like a lion, but this girl has bobby pins to hold her hair down.

Then he sighs. "Whatever." He turned on his heels and started walking off, away from the group.

"What's his problem?" Koujaku asked.

"Who…was he?" Aka asked warily. She doesn't remember battling the green guy before, but he seems that he knew who she really was.

"That was Noiz", Aoba answered. "He's…an acquaintance of ours."

"He's our friend", Clear said, clapping his hands. "He's really smart though he seems to be mean."

"He's a shithead", Koujaku added, shrugging off his anger. "He plays Rhyme like the others shitheads."

"He's annoying to put it nicely", Mizuki added. "Rhymers should stay in their place, in their heads."

"Oh…" Was all Aka could say.


End file.
